Calories eaten vs. calories burned

WalkingLikeACrazyWoman

Hi! I just started working out again and keeping track of it on MyFitnessPal. According to the calculator, when I exercise, it addes those calories burned to my daily goal total. Is the idea that the more exercise you do, the more you need to eat? Does it still help if you don't eat as many calories because you exerecise and your daily intake does ends up lower than your increased daily goal? Will you loose weight if you do this?

Again, I'm new at this so it's a bit confusing.

Sidesteal

Short answer: You should eat back a portion of your exercise calories as MFP already puts you in a caloric deficit based on your goals, prior to any exercise.

Since it also typically inflates exercise calories, it would be in your best interest to eat back a portion of them. 50% or so would be a good starting point, IMO.


Lastly, prepare for a heated discussion as this is a topic that generates a lot of flames.

Swissmiss

Whether you eat those calories is up to you. Most people will eat some of them but not all.

bluefox9er

Short answer: You should eat back a portion of your exercise calories as MFP already puts you in a caloric deficit based on your goals, prior to any exercise.

Since it also typically inflates exercise calories, it would be in your best interest to eat back a portion of them. 50% or so would be a good starting point, IMO.


Lastly, prepare for a heated discussion as this is a topic that generates a lot of flames.

I am in your camp..I do eat some of my calories, but not all..I tend to eat between a third or 50% of my exercise calories. i am in maintenance mode now and aim to net about 1700 calories a day

mdbs2004

I have best reults eating back 25% of excersize calories. If I dont eat enough I dont lose.

yesthistime

I love reading the answers to this question! Between "Should I eat my exercise calories?" and "Does muscle weigh more than fat?" I am thoroughly entertained during my work day

LorinaLynn

Eating all or most did good things for me.

psuLemon

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/384720-working-out-and-eating-back-calories

Here is a good discuss on the same topic. But yes, you truely should. All the technical data points to that conclusion.

WalkingLikeACrazyWoman

It just seems so contrary to eat back the calories that you work off. I can't belive that it helps you loose weight to eat more (as long as your exercising). Again, forgive my ignorance. I'm really new at this. I was always the skinny girl, until my metabolism caught up with me.

Karen_145

I eat all of my calories, but I don't trust MFP's calculations on exercise. I bought a pedometer and use that for my calories burned. It's readings are a lot lower than MFP's estimates and probably a lot more accurate. At the very least you want to eat some of it back. If you get too few calories per day your body is going to go into starvation mode and weight loss will slow down.

andrejjorje

+1

ElizabethRoad

It just seems so contrary to eat back the calories that you work off. I can't belive that it helps you loose weight to eat more (as long as your exercising). Again, forgive my ignorance. I'm really new at this. I was always the skinny girl, until my metabolism caught up with me.

Calorie deficit is for losing weight, exercise is for toning your muscles. Since MFP already gives you a calorie deficit, if you don't eat back the calories you burn, you will end up with a potentially huge deficit.

CMmrsfloyd

I posted these comments on a similar thread a couple of days ago I think - it's kind of long but a lot of people seemed to appreciate it, so I'll share again here: (it's actually a couple of posts from the same topic combined together, but anyway here you go, just in case it helps)

When you put in your height/weight/etc and then tell MFP what your goal is, if you tell it you want to lose weight, it automatically builds in a deficit to help you meet that weightloss goal without having to do any extra exercise. For example, my maintenance calorie needs are calculated at 1710 calories per day based on my weight and activity level, I told MFP I want to lose 1 lb per week so it has given me a goal of 1210 calories per day. That gives me an automatic 500 calorie deficit each day, which over the course of the week adds up to a 3500 calorie deficit which is exactly what's needed in order for me to lose 1 lb per week, just like I asked MFP to help me accomplish. So, on the days that I exercise, if I burn say 500 calories, MFP automatically ups my goal to 1710. The reason? Well, to lose 1 lb per week, I need 1210 calories per day, but if I exercise then MFP assumes I need extra energy to sustain that added level of activity. So in order to still lose 1 lb per week like I asked, I need to eat more calories or else my 'net' calories (amount consumed minus amount burned through exercise) goes below the 1210 goal that it gave me. I chose 1 lb per week b/c it was the 'recommended' amount, plus as you can see from where I am right now, there really is not *that* much room for me to play with trying to have a much larger deficit to try and lose more weight. MFP will not give you a calorie goal any lower than 1200 per day, that's just the lowest it will tell anyone to go, so my 1 lb per week goal fits in quite nicely with what the system will support anyway. And since my goal is so low (compared to how much I used to eat before joining LOL) I take it as motivation to exercise so that I *can* earn those extra calories - for bigger meals, extra snacks, etc.

Some people religiously eat *all* of their exercise calories, some eat just part of them, some don't eat them at all. Everyone has their reasons and they are quite varied. The way that MFP is set up, the system says that you need to eat those calories b/c you would have been at a deficit before you ever worked out at all. It's quite the debated topic on this site. One reason that people cite in favor of eating the exercise calories is that you don't want to risk losing muscle mass instead of fat in the weightloss process. One reason that people cite in favor of not eating them is that they want to lose weight faster. Everyone has an opinion, it's up to you to decide what you're going to do.

P.S. I've been doing this for a little over 3 months now, and I've lost 23 lbs in those 3 months (from 165 down to 142 so far). Only 17 left to go to get to my ultimate goal. I did start out with a 2 lb per week weightloss goal but eventually revised it to 1 lb per week since it's more realistic for my current stats. So for me, staying fairly close to the MFP recommendations has worked out really well. Once again, everyone has an opinion, that's mine and that's how it's worked for me. I'm not super strict about it, I have days that I am over and days that I am under, but it all averages out in the end to be pretty close to what MFP recommends. *Let me add that I estimate my exercise calories using my HRM, which is more accurate than the estimations that you get from MFP. If I were relying *just* on the MFP estimates, I'd probably still eat back part of my exercise calories but not quite as much since a lot of people say the MFP estimates are quite high.

MFP gives you a calorie goal that is more of a 'minimum' or target to get as close to as possible, it automatically builds in the deficit so that when you exercise, you have truly 'earned' the ability to eat those extra calories and still stay on target with the goals you have set. It sort of does things a bit backwards of what some other sites/programs do it, so that exercise is not actually *necessary* for weightloss - you could just go about your normal daily activities and stick to your calorie goal and you would lose weight without ever stepping into a gym or lacing up running shoes. The MFP goal is basically a 'here's what you need to eat if you're not going to bother exercising' goal. If you exercise, MFP is like 'Wow, great work! You actually exercised even though you don't have to to meet your goals! As a reward, how about you go eat a snack?' LOL

WalkingLikeACrazyWoman

This is an awesome explanation! I think I understand it now. Thanks so much! I really appreciate it. Good job on losing so much weight! I'm really impressed and it makes my goals seem like a possiblity.

gashinshotan

I ate all mine and still lost 11 lbs in 2.5 weeks.... but then again I think mfp is UNDERESTIMATING my calories burned because my runs are half steep uphill....

CMmrsfloyd

I ate all mine and still lost 11 lbs in 2.5 weeks.... but then again I think mfp is UNDERESTIMATING my calories burned because my runs are half steep uphill....

If you have a little cash to throw around, a HRM is really invaluable for a better calorie burn estimate. I'm sure you probably already know that but I thought I'd throw it out there for others that may not be aware. :-)

gashinshotan

haha I know - I just don't feel like spending the cash on one... I have a like 8 year old, unused polar HRM around here that's probably dead.... waiting for a good deal on one...

dad106

I eat all of my calories, but I don't trust MFP's calculations on exercise. I bought a pedometer and use that for my calories burned. It's readings are a lot lower than MFP's estimates and probably a lot more accurate. At the very least you want to eat some of it back. If you get too few calories per day your body is going to go into starvation mode and weight loss will slow down.

Eh, the pedometer is no more accurate than MFP.. the only way to get an accurate calorie estimation is by using an HRM.... other than that, your better off using MFP.

To Op:
It's up to you.. eat, dont eat, w/e... As long as your full at the end of the day and the stomach is rumbling with sounds of feed me food, then you'll be ok.

Rae6503

MFP assigns you a calorie deficit1 based on your weekly goal2. So if you burn 2000 calories a day and you want to lose a pound a week, MFP tells you to eat 1500. When you exercise you burn more than your 2000 calories a day. Say you burn 500. Suddenly you are burning 2500 calories a day. If you do not eat your exercise calories your deficit becomes 1000 calories. If you do eat your exercise calories your deficit remains at 500 calories.

Having too large of a calorie deficit can create problems. First, and most simply, it makes things harder, makes you hungry, gives you little energy, makes it harder to stick with your diet in the long run. Second, it might slow your metobolism (although this takes times) and slow your weight loss. Third, it makes the transition to maintenance difficult. Lastly, large calorie deficits can start to effect your health if you sustain them too long. Your hair can fall out, your nails crack, your period can stop (if you are female obviously). Your brain stops working at optimal levels, and other things. The more weight you have to lose however, the bigger calorie deficit you can handle. Some people say they aren't hungry enough to eat their exercise calories. We need to realize that sometimes our hunger signals aren't the best thing to trust. If they were no one would be over or under weight.

The End.



1. Deficit = calories you eat - calories you burn all day to live

2. One pound (of fat) = 3500 calories. If you want to lose a pound a week (2lbs a week is possible but hard) you need to eat 500 calories because 3500/7 = 500.